mtl blog

Modern Tiny Living was just informed by Google Analytics that we passed over 1 MILLION page views on our site in just the last year! Who would have guessed that a custom tiny house design and construction company (started over margaritas and tacos) could turn into this?

We know one million page views isn't anything super crazy, but still, we just want to thank all of you that have stopped by our site. Whether you were looking at our custom tiny homes, checking out our story, or just reading our blog, we seriously want to thank you for taking the time to check out Modern Tiny Living and our work.

Modern Tiny Living's popular micro home, The Nugget, was recently featured in Curbed's 5 Impressive Tiny Homes You Can Order Right Now list. Curbed is one of the most popular design publications in the world, and we're proud to have our Nugget model featured on their prestigious blog.

The Cedar Springs Tiny Village, of which Modern Tiny Living is the exclusive tiny house builder, was recently featured on the very popular "socially conscious" blog, The Good Trade. The Good Trade was featuring its top revolutionary tiny house villages, and the Cedar Springs Tiny Village was included! Thanks for the shout out, The Good Trade!

​Founded in Los Angeles in November 2014, The Good Trade covers conscious fashion, beauty, food, wellness, travel and lifestyle. Our readers are enthusiastic, conscious women and men who care deeply about the brands they support.

The Good Trade was built on the fundamental idea that consumers are capable of driving significant social change through their everyday purchases, consumer preferences and lifestyle choices.

The Modern Tiny Living and River & Twine team are thrilled to announce that our upcoming tiny house hotel was recently featured on the world's #1 tiny house blog, Tiny House Talk!

Link: Modern Tiny Living and River & Twine Tiny House Hotel in Rocky Mount, NC

More about Modern Tiny Living and River & Twine

We are proud to announce that Modern Tiny Living has been commissioned to build 13 tiny homes River & Twine, a stunning boutique tiny house getaway in the heart of Rocky Mount Mills, North Carolina!

From the River & Twine team:

"River & Twine will feature 20 unique, brand new tiny homes located on the bank of the idyllic Tar River directly adjacent to all of Rocky Mount Mills’ many amenities, including breweries, restaurants and a seasonal concert series. To develop this riverfront destination, Rocky Mount Mills is contracting with two builders -- Modern Tiny Living and Free Spirit Tiny Homes -- nationally renowned for their work on small and irresistible living spaces."

We are very excited to be a part of this project, and cannot wait to see the finished project in Q1 2019....or to sample the local craft beers when we drop off the homes 😋

Of course, the first home we built for River & Twine had to pay homage to the North Carolina roots, so we did a glorious "North Carolina Blue" color combo! It pops! Can't wait to show all of you the finished product.

Her video walkthrough is already at nearly 10,000 views on YouTube and now she was just recently featured on Treehugger, a socially-conscious blog about sustainability and green living (and it's the #1 most trending article). Thanks for the shout-out, Treehugger!

*Like all of our models, pricing is dependent upon appliances, finishes, customizations, and materials used. This price could be more, or significantly less, depending upon your specific needs, priorities, and desires. Contact us to have a free consultation about how Clover might look for you.

We are proud to announce that Modern Tiny Living has been commissioned to build 13 tiny homes River & Twine, a stunning boutique tiny house getaway in the heart of Rocky Mount Mills, North Carolina!

From the River & Twine team:

"River & Twine will feature 20 unique, brand new tiny homes located on the bank of the idyllic Tar River directly adjacent to all of Rocky Mount Mills’ many amenities, including breweries, restaurants and a seasonal concert series. To develop this riverfront destination, Rocky Mount Mills is contracting with two builders -- Modern Tiny Living and Free Spirit Tiny Homes -- nationally renowned for their work on small and irresistible living spaces."

We are very excited to be a part of this project, and cannot wait to see the finished project in Q1 2019....or to sample the local craft beers when we drop off the homes 😋

Of course, the first home we built for River & Twine had to pay homage to the North Carolina roots, so we did a glorious "North Carolina Blue" color combo! It pops! Can't wait to show all of you the finished product.​

A few weeks ago, Trent Haery and Robbie Hendricks (MTL Co-Founders) made the long journey out to Newport, Rhode Island with one of our tiny house models, the Point. We were the only out-of-town guest invited to display a tiny house at the Newport Flower Show, situated on the (massive) lawn of the Rosecliff mansion (Trivia Nugget: It's where the original Great Gatsby was filmed!).

The headliner for the event was Martha Stewart. Martha frequently attends the Newport Flower Show, and it was quite a treat for the MTL team to have her check out our house! Just wanted to share this little photo she posted on her blog.

Hey Tiny House squad! We recently met a wonderful woman, Brynn, who has made the jump to go tiny with her family of four. After getting to know one another, we concluded that we just had to have her experiences and lessons, triumphs and tribulations documented on her tiny house journey. As such, we have a four part series of her thoughts and experience going tiny!

Here is Brynn's 4th piece on her tiny house experience, 3 Things We've Noticed Since Paying Off Debt. ​If you've ever wondered about how going tiny can help you pay off debt, this is the piece for you!

When we decided to minimize, simplify, and downsize to tiny home living a year ago, financial freedom was one of our driving motivators. Ours is a hard-working family who still lived paycheck to paycheck due to circumstances like medical bills and living in areas of high poverty and low employment (therefore, the living wage was well below the national average).

Since we have sold our traditional house and gone tiny, we have been able to pay off all existing debt, with the exception of one medical bill. We have also been able to build a savings that is allowing us to both travel this summer for the first time since having kids, and to experience the freedom that comes without worrying when the next payday will arrive.

So, here is a list of the top three things we are learning as we’ve downsized to tiny life and paid off debt.

Watching Cash Leave your Hand Is Physically Painful

Since being budget conscious by choice instead of necessity, our perspective has changed. It is pretty amazing what kind of turnaround happens when you pay cash for all things outside of automatic online bill payments.

When I have to physically watch Stacy at the gas station take the $10 bill out of my icy cold grip in exchange for a soda and a bag of Sun Chips, friends, I am seriously reconsidering my snack choices! Paying cash helps to keep tight control of unnecessary expenditures as well as allows you the freedom to save up money without having it show up in you account to be spent on things like groceries or gas.

Beating Your Budget Becomes Addicting

Once you get in the habit of creating a monthly budget (it takes a while, just like any habit), you will be able to track how much money you have coming in and how much you have going out in various categories each month.

Maybe it is because I am competitive, but this has driven myself and my husband to compete in who can save the most/spend the least, as well as trying to spend less each month in certain expense categories, such as couponing for groceries and buying in bulk to save.

Mo’ Money Doesn’t Have To Equal More Spending

When you live tiny, you generally keep what you need when you downsize from your traditional house or apartment. This means that, unlike moving into a new traditionally built home, new tiny home owners generally don’t need to go buy a bunch of ‘stuff’.However, if things come up or something that you want goes on sale, you should have a miscellaneous budget item or cash savings. This should be a built in part of your monthly financial plan.

So, let’s say you decided to save money in your tiny house build by using a handmade composting toilet to start and now you are ready to upgrade to a Nature’s Head Composting Toilet. If you haven’t saved the $975 to buy it, you have to wait. This is great monetary modeling if you have kids, as well!

Hey Tiny House squad! We recently met a wonderful woman, Brynn, who has made the jump to go tiny with her family of four. After getting to know one another, we concluded that we just had to have her experiences and lessons, triumphs and tribulations documented on her tiny house journey. As such, we have a four part series of her thoughts and experience going tiny!

Here is Brynn's 5th piece on her tiny house experience, How to Create Kid-Friendly Space In Your Tiny. ​If you've ever wondered about managing children in your tiny house, this is the piece for you!

Living tiny with kids is something many argue cannot be done, but here we are--a year in and loving it. We have chosen to Roadschool our kids so we are able to continue traveling and exposing them to different cultures, a variety of customs, and real world learning. I work full time from an office space that has to be organized.

However, what do we do when it is rainy or when lessons involve the unavoidable worksheet or pen and paper classwork? We created a killer Roadschool space and children's area inside our rig that can accommodate our individual learner's needs. So, keep in mind that every student learns differently, but these tips can be applied to creating everything from a preschool area to a high school room, a professional office to a crafting space in your tiny. We also incorporated a calming area for our sensory sensitive little one that can double as a reading nook or a place to play video games--whatever your kids are into!

Make Large Items Foldable

Desks and shelving can take up a lot of space in a tiny home so making the best use of vertical space is crucial. A wall mounted desk can save on both space as well as create a place for storage. Many of these desks have internal storage for office supplies as well as the work space. Shelving can also fold down and back up for when they are being used or when they need to be stored to travel.

Organize The Small Things

Whether you choose bins, containers, or totes, small things can get lost in a tiny house so keeping them organized is important. We recommend using a small metal rolling cart and magnetized bins, buckets, and small containers so the inside and outside of each shelf are most efficiently used.

Visibly Separate Space

Use items like rugs and shelving to break up a larger open space into smaller more divided rooms without putting up walls. We use a large rug to separate our office space from the rest of our kids' room. Open shelving that you can see through are also a great option for dividing space.

Make The Space Creative

Whether you brighten it up with paint, decorate it with decals, or create a photo collage, make the space somewhere you want to be. We use a bright color palate, kid-friendly wall decals and trendy items like a globe and succulents to bring the outdoors in. Always incorporate natural light whenever possible as well in order to make a small space seem larger.

Whenever Possible, Make Space Multi-Functional

So our Roadschool room doubles as my office space just as much as the bar area in our kitchen is used for studying and eating dinner. Whether you use large items like a Murphy bed that doubles as shelving or storage that is also decorative, in a tiny home, real estate is a hot commodity so most designs need to be space-saving and multi-functional.